Stoudemire has been out since March 24 with a bulging disc in his back, and in his absence the Knicks have evolved into Carmelo’s team on offense — possessions run through him. ‘Melo is thriving. The question for interim coach Mike Woodson is how to make it work for both his All-Star forwards.

Stoudemire will be back for the playoffs and talked with Yahoo about that.

That means a first-round matchup against Chicago or Miami. Stoudemire says the opponent doesn’t matter in terms of basketball. But he does have a preference when other factors are considered.